hostilis Posted September 21, 2013 Hello everyone! I have some A. retusus seedlings and I think one of them may be variegated. All of them are green except for one, it's red. At first i thought it was sunburnt, but i realized that if it was the other ones probably should be too since they're the same distance from the light. I'm sure some of you have witnessed seedlings that are variegated. I haven't, so, this will be a first. I'm very hopeful that it is, and I will graft it soon. Here are some pictures. I'd appreciate any help. Thanks! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
planthelper Posted September 21, 2013 (edited) my guess is no, sorry to say. it's not uncommon that some are green and some are orange in color, to be honest your "red one", grows far to well to be variegated. variegated cacti, don't grow well and are to my knowledge white in colour. will you graft them anyway? arios grow much slower than lophs, so I quite like grafting them anyway. if it is variegated, than it will only survive, if grafted (with very, minimal exeptions). Edited September 21, 2013 by planthelper Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hostilis Posted September 21, 2013 Yes, I'm planning on grafting a lot of these to pereskiopsis anyways. It actually isn't growing as well as the others, it's a bit shrivelled and not as fat as the others. But to be honest i would have no idea, so i'll take your advise to heart and probably graft it anyways just to see what happens. I have some ariocarpus trigonus and aztekium riterii growing too. The a. riterii is just unbearable how slow it grows. They're about a month old and the size of a grain of sand still! Planted at the same time as these little girls. It's crazy. Thanks for the help though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
planthelper Posted September 21, 2013 it could be a variegated seedling, and all of us hope it is! if it's shrivelled, than this would support our hopes. good luck for when you graft them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mutant Posted September 22, 2013 lol aztekium from seed Its always nice that some people try it. an ode to the futile! good luck Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hostilis Posted October 8, 2013 lol aztekium from seed Its always nice that some people try it. an ode to the futile! good luck How else do you start them? Lol. They don't seem like they'd be easy to propogate. Or can you take a cutting of one of the "leaf" like things and root it? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jox Posted October 8, 2013 hostilis, who cares if in is variegated? If you can get your Ario to change to an Aztekium Hmmm!! That is one weird cactus . Seriously, I have found seedlings that end up variegated can be spotted because they show two colours, for example red & green hence the variegation. You might have a seedling that is lacking a certain pigment IMO still cool. Good luck with your grafts & please keep us updated. Cheers Jox 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hostilis Posted October 8, 2013 I will for sure. I have a graft that i'm pretty sure took, but it hasn't moved for like 1 month. It is all plumped up though so I think it took. The loph i grafted on the same day is way big now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GoOnThen Posted October 8, 2013 Are you saying that you grafted an Ario. If so I have found that some are very slow on pere. I was talking to someone the other day and he was saying the same thing some just don't seem to grow and he thinks that it has to do with the alignment of the vascular bundles. He now tries to not just cross them over but actually sit them on top of each other. They seem a lot less forgiving than a lot of other scions. Aztekium from seed certainly is a slow process. I have another 3 seedlings at the moment which is my second a temp at growing these. I now believe that you are supposed to keep them in humidity for at least 12 months to have any chance of getting them to survive. I also understand that grafting pups and degrafting and rooting is not the easiest thing to do as well. I did read somewhere recently that someone did make a successful graft of a pup it might have been Mutant actually. Cheers Got Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mutant Posted October 8, 2013 sorry for the confusion, lol arios should be lots faster than Aztekiums Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hostilis Posted October 9, 2013 Mutant, I am growing aztekium from seed. Sorry, I thought you were talking about the ariocarpus. It was confusion on my part. Good to know about the humidity with aztekium. I just took mine out of humidity after three months and I'm thinking I should maybe put it back. I was planning on attempting a graft with one of them when they're bigger, but i'm not sure. I have one adult that is grafted to a myrtillocactus. Here is a picture. I may attempt a few more ariocarpus grafts just to see if I can get one to actually grow! Lol. Here is the picture. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mutant Posted October 9, 2013 cheers, you seem to have messed up with a couplle "fitzcarraldo" sessions aztekium and chimera f.e. reference to fitzcarraldo http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083946/ good luck!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hellonasty Posted October 9, 2013 Way too early to tell if that Ario is variegated, it could be as they tent to start out that colour, but so do many other seedlings. In seedlings that colour is usually an indicator of adaptation to light, much like the human skin produces pigmentation, seedlings will go a darker colour to reduce the amount of heat and light adsorbed by the skin and during this time the plant will have time to adapt to the new higher intensity light. This darker colour is not an indication your plant is unhealthy in anyway it is simply going through a natural growing cycle, you may find other seedlings are not changing colour this is probably due to a higherr genetic tolerance to light. HN 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hostilis Posted October 10, 2013 cheers, you seem to have messed up with a couplle "fitzcarraldo" sessions aztekium and chimera f.e. reference to fitzcarraldo http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083946/ good luck!! I'm not really sure what you meant by that. Lol, but thanks for wishing me luck. I guess i'd have to watch the movie to understand. Way too early to tell if that Ario is variegated, it could be as they tent to start out that colour, but so do many other seedlings. In seedlings that colour is usually an indicator of adaptation to light, much like the human skin produces pigmentation, seedlings will go a darker colour to reduce the amount of heat and light adsorbed by the skin and during this time the plant will have time to adapt to the new higher intensity light. This darker colour is not an indication your plant is unhealthy in anyway it is simply going through a natural growing cycle, you may find other seedlings are not changing colour this is probably due to a higherr genetic tolerance to light. HN Hello HN, thanks for the reply. I was also thinking it looked sunburnt. I'd say there's a tiny chance it may be variegated but you are most likely correct. I will update everyone when it is older. I appreciate all of the repplies. You are a very helpful bunch of people. Thanks! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mutant Posted October 10, 2013 (edited) Indeed! I have coined the term and been using it even though people dont know the film. Pity every one knows Gladiator or Spielberg, but few people care about these masterpieces of german cinema. Fitzcarraldo is one of the great movies of Hertzog and one of which he did with the crazy Klaus Kinsky. Fitzcarraldo, is among other things an ode to the futile. The making of the film is also very interesting. So I guess now you have a hint .. this goes to all (slow growing) cacti people but esp. those people who grow aztekium from seed: see the movie!! Edited October 10, 2013 by mutant Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hostilis Posted October 11, 2013 Haha, I also just ordered 100 A. hintonii seeds. I'm in way over my head aren't i? Lol! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hellonasty Posted October 11, 2013 Aztekium are extremely difficult especially in the early stages, but it certainly can be done. I have had success grafting 1mm diameter seedlings to Hylocereus, took about 6-7months to get that size, however once on the hylo they grow much much faster (+500% at least) and are relatively easy to keep alive, much the same as a Loph once established as a graft. Good luck Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hostilis Posted October 12, 2013 (edited) Good to know. My a. riterii have been growing for like 2-3 months now and they're pretty damn small. The seeds are tiny as all hell too. It's pretty crazy. I am very dedicated with this cactus growing passion though so I will accept the from seed aztekium challenge. Lol. An update on the red seedling. It's very small and looks kind of shriveled. It put out one new section that is a greenish color. I'm thinking maybe it might actually be variegated. Edited October 12, 2013 by hostilis Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
